Uncharted Waters
by OrigamiPaperAngel
Summary: Before they became the eskimo-kissing couple we all know and either hate or love, the rookie La'gaan refrained from revealing his feelings towards Miss Martian due to her relationship with Superboy. But when he finds her sobbing in her room, how can he do anything but go in there and try to comfort her? Just as a teammate, of course... / An Angelfish fic.


**Author's Note**: Um. So...well...I kind of like this couple. Okay, scratch that, I _really_ like them.

However, there's so little for them! I've only found _two_ measly coupling pictures for them so far, and forget about fanfictions. Now, as you can probably surmise from my gallery of stories on here, I'm not usually one for writing fics dedicated to canon couples and I tend to gravitate towards those that are less popular. (This is because I figure canon couples have enough authors to write for them, and out of a larger pool there is bound to be at least _one _outstanding story written for them. Thus, if out of ten rocks there is one gem, why should I try to add a rock to the pile? Even if I polished my rock up to look shiny, it simply couldn't compare to the gem, so why should I even bother?)

My point is, La'gaan/M'gann is a very rare exception to my no-canon-couple rule due to the lack of love they receive, despite being canon. So, to channel some of my YJ-love (and sadness over no new episodes), here is a shiny new fic of mine, dedicated to Angelfish! If you would be so kind as to drop a line after reading regarding your feels towards the fic—especially if you add critique, which I am always eager for—I would be mighty thankful! :D

* * *

For a guy like him, these were uncharted waters, maybe even the Bermuda Triangle of waters to be wary of. And yet, bullheaded as a shark, he was going diving right in, but at least he could claim a legitimate reason: a teammate of his was crying in her room, and this was not just any teammate. It was Miss Martian, only the girl he'd had a crush on since the first time he had laid eyes on her. She was sweetest and kindest girl he'd met up here, and yet as he passed her room he could hear sniffles and harsh gasps from behind the unclosed door. How could he _not_ try to go in there and comfort her in any way he could?

He sent a silent prayer to Neptune for luck: _Please just let me help her not to cry...please don't let me make it any worse, for you surely know how little experience I have in matters like this..._ He took a shaky step forward. He didn't really know Miss Martian very well; what if his presence offended her? Was it bad to walk in on crying girls up here, even if you meant to offer them support? Then again, he was still growing used to earth's culture, and this girl was from _Mars_. What if he made things worse?

But then he heard a sharp, piercing sob that made her whole back shake, and he pushed the door open and stepped inside, hesitant but determined to help his teammate. Surely he couldn't make it any worse. But what on earth was tearing her apart so?

Her back was to him, but once she detected his presence she seemed to straighten up a bit, and she tilted the back of her head towards him, as if she wanted to hear him better but didn't want to see. Her voice sounded half-miserable, but half-hopeful when she asked, "Conner?"

For a moment he couldn't muster a word, but finally he tore his hand from the back of his neck and muttered a lame, "Oh, no, it's La'gaan."

"Oh." Something in her tone—was it disappointment?—gave him the feeling that this was an unpleasant surprise, and it stung him worse than any jellyfish ever could. With a bite to his lip he swallowed the bitter taste of inadequacy that her one syllable filled him with—"_Oh"_.Even though she hadn't said it, he was sure that she had held back, "_It's just you_."

Sure he wasn't Superboy, but at least he was here. Where _was_ Conner, anyway? She should have her boyfriend here, someone who knew her perfectly and could comfort her with a few soft words and touches, not an awkward, fishy new teammate who barely knew her apart from a small and hopeless crush on her he had been nursing since day one.

"Um—" He started.

At the same time she spoke, "I—" She cleared her throat before she shuddered and wiped her face on her sleeve. "I'm sorry you had to see me like this, La'gaan," she choked out, far too formal for his liking, far too guarded.

"_You're_ sorry?" He asked, incredulous as he drew nearer. "You have no reason to be! Miss Martian, what's wrong?"

His closeness must have startled her, for just as he was preparing to plot himself down next to her she stood up. With averted eyes she tried to smile, but her quivering lip's refusal to curl upwards gave her away before she even said, "I'm... fine, really. Nothing's wrong."

"Nothing's wrong?" He repeated. "Neptune's beard, Miss Martian, I wouldn't believe that if Poseidon himself swore it to me!" Worried that his strong language would chase her away, he lowered his voice. "You can tell me," he told her in a soft voice, studying the wet face that refused to lift itself to meet his.

She seemed to consider it, though he couldn't be sure if her rapid blinking to alleviate her tears was a good sign or not. To test the waters he placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, and she seemed to fall apart at the gesture, as she twirled to face him and almost collided into him. The whole movement occurred so quickly that La'gaan almost didn't catch what she said in-between her revived sobs: "_Conner doesn't love me any more._"

"What?" He exclaimed, so shocked he almost let her go. But he wrapped his arms around her—slowly, hesitantly—and even as he did so he was filled with disbelief. That couldn't be! Everybody knew Superboy and Miss Martian were crazy about each other—could it be she was simply overreacting to a little offhand remark he had said without thinking? But more importantly, how could this be possible? "How do you know?"

"Because—" Her voice broke, and she buried her head in his shoulder as if too ashamed to meet his eyes. "He br-broke up with me. He—" A round of violent sobs shook her shoulders and swallowed up her words. Wide-eyed in amazement, La'gaan was trying to muster a comforting phrase when the girl in his arms drew in a long, shaky breath and continued in a quiet voice permeated by occasional gasps and sobs, "H-He said that I... gave him n-no _choice_." Her voice broke on the last word, leaving a shell-shocked La'gaan to tighten his arms around her as he mulled over what she had said.

That made _no sense_, he thought. She gave him no choice? That sounded like the slippery excuse of an eel, and he gritted his teeth in anger. Who was Superboy to treat such a wonderful person like garbage? She was a multi-talented, incredibly gifted fighter who had been with him since the team's early days. She didn't seem to care at all about La'gaan's looks when she first met him—this was more than he could say for other surface-dwellers—so he knew she had a good heart and was one of the few people, human or otherwise, wise and caring enough to look past appearances and see people for how they truly are, rather than how they simply look. She was the most wonderful girl he had ever met, up here or in Atlantis, and he had often thought to himself that he would have pursued her had she not already been in a relationship with Superboy. But now...

M'gann gave a loud sniff and took in a sharp breath. She took several more breaths until her body stopped its violent shaking, though still her shoulders trembled and her voice seemed to shiver as she spoke. "I...I thought everything was going so well," she murmured. "We were the p-perfect couple, just like Megan and Conner from the show, but-but _better_! Or at least, I thought so..." He didn't exactly understand what she was talking about; she seemed to be mumbling to herself by now, though he hoped his presence was helping.

At least she had calmed down a bit, though tears still flowed freely from her closed eyelids. He watched her in wonder as she, a girl he had deemed as one of the strongest he'd ever known when he first joined the team, struggled to piece herself back together after the guy she had given her heart to—a guy who was supposed to _protect_ her, _love_ her, _cherish_ her—had shattered her. It made La'gaan so furious that he hissed under his breath, "What a fool he is. What a chum! He has no right—" He cut himself off. He was starting to get all worked up over this; it wasn't his place, he reminded himself. This was their business. Superboy had his reasons.

But he should have told her the real reason, instead of coldly telling her that she had driven him to it! It burned him, an aquatic civilian from Atlantis, up, and that was saying something. He could think of a million other names for Superboy after hearing about what he had done, but he kept his tongue in check, as none of them would help Miss Martian. "I'm sorry that happened," he managed finally, massaging her back with one arm in a comforting gesture. He couldn't think of much else to say, but it seemed to help, at least a little bit, because she blinked her eyes open and the corners of her lips lifted—not enough to smile, but she wasn't grimacing any more, and even though she had still looked beautiful to him—she _always_ would, no matter what—she looked better. He wanted nothing more than to wipe away her tears, but her knuckles were soon doing the job.

"Thanks, La'gaan," she said, and finally she smiled at him. It was a small smile, but to him it was a feat, and he soon found himself smiling back. He was still filled with anger over what Superboy had done to her, but he couldn't help be astounded at her ability to have such sweetness and kindness to put into a smile for him, even after having her heart broken. She was so strong; but, like him, like any other person, sometimes she needed a friend to help her up to her feet. It made her seem like less of the unreachable, experienced team veteran and more of a person on his own wavelength. It was this realization that allowed him to bring a tender finger to her face and wipe away a stray tear.

"Anytime, Miss Martian," he said, and he found that he really did mean it.

She blinked in surprise and her cheeks filled in a bright orange color before she looked down. "Oh, gosh," she said, a shy smile gracing her features as she tucked a lock of long hair behind her ear. "I—I bet I look like a total puffer fish, huh?"

"Oh, by Neptune, no!" He exclaimed with a laugh. "You could never look like a puffer fish, believe me, even if you tried. Actually, I've always thought of you as more of an angelfish." He let the last part slip out without thinking, and the minute it slipped from his lips he stuttered, "Um—I mean—"

She looked up at him with a playful look in her eyes, though she was trying to look doubtful. "Oh, I think I could take you on about me being able to look like a puffer fish... though I'm more interested in angelfish now. What do they look like?"

"Oh, well, they're the prettiest fish in the sea, in my opinion," he started, but immediately he shut his lips once he realized what he said. "Er, well, actually, what I meant was, that, well..." He stopped his mumbling once he saw that her smile had grown even wider. "By the gods, I think it would be better if I just stopped talking," he said with a groan, earning a ring of laughter from her.

"Aw, please don't; I find I like hearing what you have to say," she told him. Then she giggled. "The prettiest fish in the sea, huh? Well, thank you. That certainly is preferable to being a puffer fish, though I was sure that's what I looked like after crying so much." She moved up her hand as though to wipe her eyes again, but she seemed to remember that they were dry—thanks to both of their attentions—and she looked up at him. "You're very sweet, La'gaan."

"Oh, it's nothing," he said, suddenly bashful. "And trust me, you look great even when you're crying. I think you'd always be an angelfish to me, no matter whether you're crying or happy; even if you cut your hair I'd still think you're—" Neptune's beard, what was _wrong_ with him? Why did he keep babbling? It was like being an overeager, fast-talking freshman at the Conservatory of Sorcery all over again. Something about her made him overly giddy, like a dolphin soaring and flipping through the sparkling waves of a beautiful day. It was embarrassing, and not the least bit manly, but the smile it gave her was well worth it.

She fingered her hair and a thoughtful look came into her eyes as she watched the red locks fall from her fingers. Then she let out a small chuckle. "Oh, La'gaan," she said, and she rested her head against his chest when she hugged him. She took a deep breath, seeming perfectly at peace, and didn't move. He swallowed hard and tried not to smile _too_ wide, to retain at least a measly barnacle of dignity, but he couldn't help himself. His face broke out into a grin before his arms moved to cradle her to his chest, the feeling of her in his arms as natural as waves lapping against a sandy shore.

She was well worth it.

* * *

**Author's Note**: It is my personal headcanon that M'gann cut her hair _after _Superboy broke up with her, and that this partly had to do with the transition from Superboy to Lagoon Boy (thus, LB mentioning he thinks she'd be pretty even if she cut her hair, and her considering it here); methinks it symbolized the end of her relationship with Conner—and thus the whole "Hello, Megan!" connection to her life—and the beginning of a new relationship, a new start. This little fangirl would _like_ to say "and, hopefully, a more real one," but she knows better than to count her chickens before they hatch.

So! What did you think? Was it better than you expected? Worse? Do you find yourself whelmed? At the very least, my goal of this story was to make Angelfish at least a bit more tolerable for my readers... I hope this makes at least _some_ of you able to not balk every time they cuddle on screen. XD

Want to tell me how successful/unsuccessful I was? Do drop a line if you would; I'd love to hear what you have to say! :D

Signing out,

~ OrigamiPaperAngel


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